50tii  Congress,  j  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES,    j  Report 
1st  Session.     ]  (  No.  1335. 


IMONUMENT  TO  THE  MEMORY  OF  THE  VICTIMS  OF  PRISON- 
SHIPS  AT  FORT  GREENE,  BROOKLYN. 


March  27,  1888. — Committed  to  the  Committee  of  the  Whole  House  on  the  state  of 
the  Union  and  ordered  to  be  printed. 


Mr.  Maish,  from  the  Committee  on  Military  Affairs,  submitted  the  fol- 
lowing 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  billH.  R.  1687.1 

The  Committee  on  Military  Affairs,  to  whom  was  referred  the  bill  ( H.  R. 
1687)  for  the  erection  and  completion  of  a  monument  to  the  memory  of 
the  victims  of  the  prison-ships  at  Fort  Greene,  Broolclyn,  N.  Y.,  do  re- 
spectfully report : 

After  the  battle  of  Brooklyn,  Long  Island,  August  17, 1776,  when  the 
American  Army  under  General  Washington  was  defeated  and  com- 
pelled to  retire  to  the  northern  part  of  Manhattan  Island,  the  British 
prison-ships  anchored  in  the  Wallabout  Bay  were  crowded  with  Ameri- 
can naval  }  risoners  who  underwent  experiences  of  a  horrible  nature, 
probably  unequaled  in  the  history  of  modern  warfare. 

Of  these  ships  there  were  the  Whitby,  Prince  of  Wales,  Goodhope,  and 
the  Old  Jersey,  or  "  Hell,"  as  it  was  called  by  those  who  were  confined  in 
her — often  more  that  a  thousand  at  a  time — in  consequence  of  the  suf- 
ferings they  endured. 

They  all  lay  in  the  channel  between  what  is  now  the  Cob  Dock  and 
the  inner  shore  of  the  bay,  the  Old  Jersey  being  at  the  west  side,  nearly 
opposite  what  is  now  the  west  entrance  to  the  New  York  navy-yard. 
The  prisoners  were  crowded  together  in  these  dismantled  ships  or  hulks, 
poorly  fed  and  badly  treated,  and  they  died  by  thousands.  It  is  esti- 
mated that  between  11,000  and  12,000  prisoners  perished  on  these  ves- 
sels, it  being  claimed  that  the  mortality  on  the  Old  Jersey  alone  amounted 
to  nve  a  day. 

The  prison-ships  were  originally  the  transport  vessels  in  which  cattle 
and  other  supplies  for  the  British  army  had  been  brought  to  America 
in  1776,  and  which  had  been  anchored  in  Gravesend  Bay  and  occupied 
by  the  prisoners  taken  in  the  battle  of  Brooklyn.  Upon  the  occupation 
of  the  city  by  the  British  these  soldiers  were  transferred  to  the  prisons 
on  shore  and  the  transports  were  devoted  more  especially  to  the  marine 
prisoners,  whose  numbers  wwe  rapidly  increasing,  owing  to  the  frequent 
capture  of  American  privateers  by  the  King's  cruisers. 

The  first  prison-ship  anchored  in  the  Wallabout  was  the  transport 
Whitby.  She  was  moored  near  Remsen's  mill,  which  was  on  the  west 
shore  of  the  bay,  near  Martyn's  Point,  or  Martyr's  Hook,  as  it  was  sub- 


2      MONUMENT  TO  VICTIMS  OF  PRISON-SHIPS  AT  FORT  GREENE 


sequently  called,  about  the  20th  of  October,  1776,  and  crowded  with 
prisoners.  Here  the  prisoners  had  bad  provisions,  worse  water,  and  even 
these  rations  were  small.  No  medical  man  attended  the  sick,  disease 
had  full  sway,  and  pestilence  reigned  supreme.  Hundreds  died  from 
pestilence  or  starvation,  and  the  sand  beach  between  the  ravine  in  the 
hills — where  Little  atreet,  Brooklyn,  now  is — and  the  shore  became  filled 
with  graves  in  the  course  of  two  months. 

In  May,  1777,  two  large  ships  were  anchored  in  the  Wallabout,  when 
the  prisoners  were  transferred  from  the  Whitby  to  them.  These  ships 
subsequently  took  fire,  and  some  of  the  prisoners  were  burned  in  them 
before  they  could  be  removed  to  other  vessels.  In  1779  the  Prince 
of  Wales  and  the  Good  Hope  were  used  as  prison  ships.  The  latter  was 
burned  in  1780,  and  then  the  Stromboli,  Scorpion,  and  Hunter,  all  nom- 
inally hospital  ships,  took  their  place  in  the  Wallabout.  There  were 
nearly  a  dozen  others,  but  of  all  the  Old  Jersey  won  pre-eminence  in 
the  sad  history  of  the  prison  ships.  She  was  originally  a  sixty-gun  ship 
and  had  a  long  and  honorable  career,  but,  being  unfit  for  further  active 
service,  in  1776,  was  converted  into  a  prison  ship.  She  was  dismantled, 
her  port  holes  were  closed  and  securely  fastened,  and  their  places  sup- 
plied by  two  tiers  of  small  holes,  each  about  20  inches  in  diameter, 
with  two  iron  bars  crossed  at  right  angles.  Caged  in  the  body  of  this 
hulk,  with  little  light  and  almost  no  fresh  air,  packed  together  like 
animals,  poorly  fed  on  what  was  sometimes  spoiled  and  wormy  food, 
and  given  water  that  was  stagnant,  the  prisoners  died  off  like  flies.  It 
was  no  wonder  that  they  gave  their  horrible  hole  of  suffering,  pesti- 
lence, and  death  the  nickname  of  "Old  Hell." 

The  horrors  of  these  ships  are  a  matter  of  history.  The  foul  air,  con- 
finement, darkness,  hunger,  thirst,  the  slow  poison  of  the  malarious 
locality,  the  torments  of  vermin,  the  suffocating  heat  in  summer,  the  ex- 
cessive cold  in  winter,  the  horrible  brutality  of  the  officers  and  the  guards, 
who  would  frequently  fire  among  or  bayonet  the  prisoners  for  some 
trivial  or  pretended  offense,  the  almost  total  absence  of  hope,  are  things 
too  sickening  to  dwell  upon. 

At  the  expiration  of  the  war  the  Old  Jersey  was  abandoned  where  she 
lay.  The  dread  of  contagion  prevented  any  one  venturing  on  board, 
but  it  was  not  long  until  the  worms,  which  had  been  at  work  upon 
her  timbers,  made  way  for  the  water  to  rush  in,  and  she  went  down  into 
the  waters  of  the  Wallabout,  carrying  with  her  the  only  record  of  the 
names  of  thousands  of  sufferers  which  had  been  inscribed  upon  her  inner 
planks. 

The  dead  from  these  ships  had  been  taken  on  shore  and  buried  in 
trenches  dug  in  the  sand,  and  for  years  after  the  war  their  bones  were 
found  all  around  the  bend  {f  the  bay,  but  more  especially  on  the  west 
side.  We  are  informed  by  parties  connected  with  the  navy-yard  that 
even  now  in  making  excavations  they  find  the  bones  of  human  beings, 
supposed  to  have  been  victims  of  the  prison  ships. 

For  several  years  after  the  war  was  over  the  bones  of  those  who  suf- 
fered martyrdom  in  these  ships  for  the  cause  of  liberty  were  to  be  seen, 
scarce  covered,  on  the  banks  of  the  Wallabout,  or  strewn  upon  its 
shores  and  bleaching  in  the  winter's  storm  and  summer's  sun.  Several 
patriotic  individuals  endeavored  to  have  the  attention  of  Congress 
directed  to  the  subject,  but  no  formal  movement  was  made  to  give  the 
bones  proper  interment  until  1702,  when  the  citizens  of  Brooklyn,  at  a 
regular  town  meeting,  resolved  that  the  bones  which  had  beeu  disiu- 
tei  red  and  collected  by  John  .JaeUson  should  be  removed  and  buried  in 

SRV 
Oct 


MONCJ  ENT  TO  VICTIMS  OF  PRISON-SHIPS  AT  FOKT  GREENE.  3 


the  graveyard  of  the  Reformed  Church  and  a  monument  erected  over 
them. 

John  Jackson  was  a  native  of  Queens  County,  L.  I.,  who  removed  to 
Brooklyn  soon  after  the  Revolution.  About  1791  he  purchased  what 
was  known  as  the  Remsen  estate,  situated  on  the  Wallabout,  which 
comprised  about  30  acres  of  land,  35  of  pond,  together  with  the  old  Rem- 
sen mill  and  dwelling.  This  farm  was  partly  on  what  was  known  as 
Martyr's  or  Martyn's  Hook,  where  Little  street  runs  down  to  the  water, 
and  extended  as  far  west  as  Gold  street,  and  east  into  the  navy-yard. 
It  was  in  making  improvements  on  the  farm  that  Mr.  Jackson  found 
large  quantities  of  the  bones  in  cutting  away  the  high  banks  which  then 
formed  the  shore  of  the  bay.  In  1801  he  sold  40  acres  of  this  farm  to 
the  United  States  for  a  navy-yard,  it  being  the  west  portion  of  the  yard, 
north  of  the  present  York-street  entrance.  When  the  committee  of 
the  town-meeting  above  mentioned  applied,  in  1793,  for  the  privilege  of 
removing  the  bones  Mr.  Jackson  ref  used,  as  he  had  other  plans  in  view. 
He  was  an  influential  member  and  a  sachem  of  the  Tammany  Society, 
or  Columbian  Order.  He  offered  this  society  an  eligible  piece  of  ground 
on  his  property  in  the  Wallabout  at  a  point  which  is  now  at  the  east 
end  of  Front  street,  by  the  navy-yard  wall,  for  the  purpose  of  erecting 
a  suitable  sepulchre,  which  the  society  accepted. 

In  1803  a  memorial  to  Congress  was  prepared  and  sent  to  Washing- 
ton, but  nothing  was  done  by  this  body.  In  the  mean  time,  Benjamin 
Aycrigg,  shocked  at  the  exposed  condition  of  the  remains,  made  a  con- 
tract in  1S05  with  an  Irishman  living  in  the  Wallabout  u  to  collect  the 
bones  as  far  as  may  be  without  digging."  and  deliver  them  to  him  at  a 
stipulated  price,  which  was  done,  and  the  remains  thus  collected  formed 
a  portion  of  those  afterward  placed  in  the  Tomb  of  the  Martyrs.  In 
1808  the  Tammany  Society  appointed  a  committee  and  proceeded  to  take 
steps  toward  the  long-talked  of  sepulchre.  They  initialed  an  exten- 
sive correspondence,  published  stirring  appeals,  and  invited  patriotic 
citizens  all  over  the  country  to  make  a  national  affair  of  it.  The  public 
took  hold  zealously,  and  showed  so  much  interest  that  the  corner-stone 
of  the  tomb  was  laid  on  the  13th  of  April,  1808.  An  imposing  military 
and  civic  procession  formed  at  Fulton  Ferry,  under  Major  Aycrigg, 
grand  marshal,  and  marched  through  Main,  Sands,  Bridge,  and  Jack- 
son (now  Hudson)  streets,  Brooklyn,  to  the  vault  on  Jackson  street  ad- 
joining the  navy-yard.  Benjamin  Romaine,  grand  sachem  of  Tammany, 
assisted  by  the  Wallabout  committee,  laid  the  corner-stone  of  the  vault, 
upon  which  was  the  inscription: 

In  the  name  of  the  spirits  of  the  departed  free,  sacred  to  the  memory  of  American 
seamen,  soldiers,  and  citizens  who  perished  on  board  the  prison-ships  of  the  British 
at  the  Wallabout  during  the  Revolution. 

This  is  tho  corner-stone  of  the  vault  erected  by  the  Tammany  Society,  or  Columbian 
Order,  which  contains  .their  remains,  the  ground  for  which  was  bestowed  by  John 
Jackson,  Nassau  Island.  Season  of  blossoms.  Year  of  the  discovery  the  316th,  of  the 
institution  the  19th,  and  of  American  Independence  the  32d. 

April  6, 1808. 

Ceremonies  were  completed  by  the  interment  of  thirteen  mammoth 
coffins,  and  orations  by  the  most  distinguished  men  of  the  day. 

Subsequent  to  the  interment  the  excitement  was  kept  up  for  a  while. 
Some  money  was  collected,  and  then  the  Martyrs'  Tomb  dropped  out 
of  public  notice.  Stiles,  in  hfs  "  Wallabout  Prison- Ship  Series,"  speak- 
ing of  the  Tammany  demonstration,  gives  this  peroration: 

The  pious  tribute  of  the  living  to  the  dead  is  always  solemn  and  affecting ;  a  society 
in  mourning  for  a  hero  is  interesting  to  every  one  who  beholds  it,  but  a  nation  of 
freemen  bending  jn  tears  over  the  tomb  of  eleven  thousand  martyrs  to  the  cause  of 


4     MONUMENT  TO  VICTIMS  OF  PRISON-SHIPS  AT  FORT  GPEENE. 


liberty  is  a  sight  never  before  exhibited  and  presents  a  sublime  theme  for  the  histo- 
rian and  the  poet.  Happy,  happy  Columbia  !  May  returning  years  still  find  thee  as 
thou  art  this  day — grateful  to  thy  heroes,  the  nurse  of  liberty,  at  peace  with  the 
world. 

After  the  great  procession  the  tomb,  unfinished,  was  left  to  take  care 
of  itself. 

When  the  grade  of  Jackson  street  was  altered  the  walls  of  the  vault 
were  infringed  upon,  and  finally  the  very  lot  with  the  tomb  upon  it, 
containing  the  moldering  dust  of  these  11,000  heroes,  was  sold  for  taxes. 

Benjamin  Eomaine,  a  true  patriot,  who  had  been  a  soldier  in  the  war, 
came  forward  and  bought  the  lot,  rescuing  the  remains  from  desecra- 
tion. He  erected  an  ante  chamber  over  the  vault  and  appropriately 
adorned  it.  This  was  in  1839.  Mr.  Eomaine  held  the  place  sacred,  and 
in  order  to  protect  it  from  desecration  he  appropriated  the  tomb  as  a 
burial  place  for  himself  and  family.  At  his  death,  in  1844,  his  body  was 
placed  in  a  coffin  which  he  had  long  kept  for  himself  in  the  vault.  Two 
years  before  his  death  a  committee  of  citizens  petitioned  the  legisla- 
ture for  leave  to  remove  the  bones  for  the  purpose  of  appropriate 
sepulcher,  bat  Mr.  Eomaine  protested.    He  said : 

I  have  guarded  these  sacred  remains,  with  a  reverence  which  perhaps  at  this  day 
all  may  not  appreciate  or  feel,  for  more  than  thirty  years.  They  are  now  in  their 
right  place,  near  the  wall  about  and  adjoining  the  navy-yard.  They  are  my  property. 
I  have  expended  more  than  $900  in  and  about  their  protection  and  preservation.  I 
commend  them  to  the  protection  of  the  General  Government.  I  bequeath  them  to  my 
country.  This  concern  is  very  sacred  to  me.  It  lies  near  my  heart.  I  suffered  with 
those  whose  bones  I  venerate.    I  fought  beside  them;  I  bled  with  them. 

In  consequence  of  this  remonstrance  nothing  was  done. 

Ten  years  later  a  large  meeting  of  citizens  of  Brooklyn  resolved — 

That  the  time  has  arrived  when  the  cities  of  New  York  and  Brooklyn  can  not,  with- 
out criminality,  longer  delay  the  necessary  efforts  for  rearing  the  monument  to  the 
martyrs  of  the  prison  ships — 

and  an  organization  was  formed,  entitled  the  "Martyrs'  Monumental 
Association,"  in  which  each  senatorial  district  in  the  State  of  isew  York 
and  each  State  and  Territory  in  the  Union  was  represented.  They  set 
to  work,  selected  a  site  on  Fort  Greene,  secured  plans  for  the  monument, 
agitated  the  subject,  and  elicited  donations.  But  once  more  enthusiasm 
died,  and  two  more  decades  had  almost  passed  before  anything  was 
done. 

The  common  council  of  the  city  of  Brooklyn  having  granted  the  associa- 
tion an  appropriate  lot  on  Fort  Greene,  called  Washington  Park,  the  site 
was  utilized  in  1873.  In  that  year  a  brick  vault,  25  by  11  feet,  was  com- 
pleted in  the  side  of  the  hill  facing  toward  the  junction  of  .Myrtle  avenue 
and  Cantnn  street,  it  being  the  nearest  point  toward  the  Wallabout.  l>y 
this  time  the  vault  on  Iluuson  avenue  (formerly  Jackson  street)  had  be- 
come so  dilapidated  from  neglect  that  the  remains  were  in  an  exposed 
state,  many  of  the  old  coffins  being  broken  or  defaced.  Twenty-two  new 
boxes  were  procured,  the  old  coffins  placed  in  them,  and  on  the  17th  day 
of  Jane,  1873,  all  that  remained  of  the  mortal  part  of  the  1 1,000  martyrs 
of  t  lie  prison  ships  was  quietly  removed  to  the  vault  at  Washington 
Park.  There  was  no  ostentation  this  time;  it  was  simply  a  labor  of 
love.  After  nearly  a  century  of  neglect,  relieved  occasionally  by  spas 
modie  bursts  of  patriotism,  the  bones  were  at  last  placed  in  a  spot  where 
it  is  believed  they  will  rest  undisturbed  until  time  shall  be  no  more. 
So  quietly  was  the  removal  performed,  and  so  little  interest  does  it  seem 
to  have  elicited,  that  the  daily  papers  of  the  day  did  not  make  any  men- 
tion of  it.  The  vault  was  covered  with  asphalt  and  the  surface  restored, 
and  there  are  lew  people  in  the  city  to-day  who  know  where  these  bones 


MONUMENT  TO  VICTIMS  OF  PRISON-SHIPS  AT  FORT  GREENE.  5 


lie  buried.  The  base  work  of  the  intended  ornamental  stone  super- 
structure has  been  constructed,  upon  which  it  is  intended  to  erect  the 
monument  proposed  by  the  accompanying  bill. 

This  chosen  site  of  Fort  Greene  is  a  lofty  eminence  looking  down  upon 
the  Wallabout,  where  the  prison  ships  were  anchored ;  it  also  commands 
a  view  of  the  whole  city  of  Brooklyn  and  the  surrounding  country  upon 
which  in  1876  the  battle  of  Long  Island  was  fought.  During  the  battle 
this  battery  was  known  as  Fort  Putnam,  in  honor  of  General  Putnam, 
who  was  the  immediatecommanderof  the  American  Army  during  the  ill- 
ness of  General  Greene.  From  this  eminence  General  George  W  ashing- 
ton,  Commander-in-Chief,  became  the  agonizing  witness  of  the  rout 
and  slaughter  of  Sullivan's  command,  and  during  the  whole  engage- 
ment directed  the  movements  of  the  American  Army.  It  was  here  that 
he  signed  the  order  to  retreat,  when  he  saw  that  resistance  in  the  face 
of  overwhelming  forces  was  useless.  On  this  spot  he  encouraged  the 
suffering  soldiers  with  words  of  hope  during  the  last  day  of  the  battle 
until  the  night  brought  the  fog  that  made  retreat  possible. 

Immediately  after  this  memorable  retreat  the  British,  having  gained 
absolute  possession,  used  Brooklyn  for  the  incarceration  of  the  prison- 
ers of  war. 

News  of  the  barbarous  and  inhuman  treatment  of  these  prisoners 
reached  Congress  in  1781,  when  a  special  committee  was  appointed  con- 
sisting of  Mr.  Boudinot,  Mr.Sharpe,  and  Mr.  Clymer,  who  submitted  the 
following  resolutions : 

Resolved,  'that  it  appears  to  Congress  that  a  very  large  number  of  marine  prisoners 
and  citizens  of  the  United  States,  taken  by  the  enemy,  are  now  close  confined  on  board 
prison-ships  in  the  harbor  of  New  York, 

That  the  said  prison-ships  are  so  unequal  in  size  to  the  number  of  prisoners  as  not 
to  admit  of  a  possibility  of  preserving  life  in  this  warm  season  of  the  year,  they  being 
crowded  together  in  such  a  manner  as  to  be  in  danger  of  suffocation,  as  well  as  ex- 
posed to  every  kind  of  putrid  and  pestilential  disorder. 

That  no  circumstances  of  the  enemy's  particular  situation  can  justify  this  outrage 
on  humanity,  it  Deing  contrary  to  the  usage  and  custom  of  civilized  nations  thus  de- 
liberately to  murder  their  captives  in  cold  blood,  as  the  enemy  will  not  assert  that 
prison-ships  equal  to  the  number  of  prisoners  can  not  be  obtained  so  as  to  afford  room 
sufficient  for  the  necessary  purposes  of  life. 

That  the  enemy  do  daily  improve  the  distresses  to  enlist  and  compel  many  of  our 
citizens  To  eurer  on  board  their  ships  of  war,  and  thus  to  fight  against  their  fellow- 
citizens  and  dearest  connections. 

That  the  said  marine  prisoners,  until  they  can  be  exchanged,  should  be  supplied  with 
such  necessaries  of  clothing  and  provisions  as  can  be  obtained  to  mitigate  their 
present  sufferings. 

That  therefore  the  Commander-in-Chief  be,  and  is  hereby,  instructed  to  remonstrate 
to  the  proper  officer  within  the  enemy's  lines  on  the  said  unjustifiable  treatment  of 
our  marine  prisoners,  and  demand  in  the  most  express  terms  to  know  the  reasons  of 
this  unnecessary  severity  towards  them;  and  that  the  Commander-in-Chief  transmit 
such  answer  as  may  be  received  thereon  to  Congress,  that  decided  measures  for  due 
retaliation  may  be  adopted,  if  a  redress  of  these  evils  is  not  immediately  given. 

That  the  Commander-in-Chief  be,  and  is  hereby,  instructed  to  direct  the  supplying 
of  the  said  prisoners  with  such  provisions  and  light  clothing  for  their  present  more 
comfortable  subsistence  as  may  be  in  his  power  to  obtain,  and  in  such  manner  as  he 
may  deem  most  advantageous  for  these  United  States. 

There  is  no  question  that  these  men  were  martyrs  to  the  cause  of 
liberty;  that  those  who  survived  the  war  and  were  honored  by  the 
grateful  care  of  their  Government  and  esteemed  until  the  close  of  their 
lives  for  their  patriotism  and  v^lor  were  entitled  to  much  less  than  these 
unfortunate  victims  of  cruelty  and  hardship,  and  that  the  least  that  the 
Government  can  do  at  this  time  is  to  erect  to  them  a  monument  upon 
which  shall  be  inscribed  a  record  of  their  service  and  the  story  of  their 
martyrdom. 

H.  Rep.  4  61 


6      MONUMENT  TO  VICTIMS  OF  PRISON-SHIPS  AT  FORT  GREENE. 


The  propriety  of  the  erection  of  such  a  monument  by  the  nation  will 
not  be  questioned  in  view  of  these  facts. 

These  helpless  victims  were  prisoners  of  war,  belonging  not  to  any  city 
or  State,  but  to  the  whole  country  ;  captured  by  the  enemy  while  in  the 
service  of  their  country  in  both  the  Army  and  Navy;  citizens  of  all  the 
original  thirteen  States,  aud  numbered  more  than  were  slain  in  all  the 
battles,  both  by  land  and  sea,  of  that  long  and  desperate  struggle  for 
freedom. 

Had  these  victims  been  less  arduous  iu  their  patriotism  or  less  firm 
in  their  devotion  to  liberty;  had  they  purchased  their  lives  by  enlisting 
in  the  service  of  the  enemy,  as  they  were  daily  importuned  to  do,  and 
this  ariny  of  1L\000  valiant  men  been  added  to  the  forces  against  which 
Washington  and  his  compatriots  were  fighting  the  struggle  of  our  fore- 
fathers would  have  no  doubt  been  greatly  prolonged. 

There  has  been  laid  before  the  committee  the  followiug  concurrent 
resolutions  relative  to  erection  of  a  monument  to  the  "  martyrs  of  the 
prison-ships"  at  the  Wallabout  during  the  Kevolutionary  war,  passed 
by  the  senate  and  assemblv  of  the  State  of  New  York,  February  28, 
1888: 

Whereas  the  "Society  of  Old  Brooklynites, n  of  the  City  of  Brooklyn,  has  pre- 
sented a  petition  to  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  for  the  erection  of  a  monument 
to  commemorate  the  virtues  and  patriotism  of  more  than  12,000  soldiers  and  sailors 
who  perished  on  hoard  the  prison-ships  at  the  Wallahout  during  the  Revolutionary 
war :  and 

Whereas  those  unhappy  victims  were  citizens  of  the  Uuited  States,  prisoners  of 
war,  captured  while  in  the  service  of  this  country  during  its  long  and  desperate  strug- 
gle for  freedom,  when  the  Government  was  too  feeble  to  afford  them  protection  or 
relieve  their  sufferings  :  Therefore, 

Resolved  (if  the  assembly  concur),  That  the  Senators  and  Representatives  in  Con- 
gress from  this  State  be  and  they  hereby  are  earnestly  requested  to  use  all  honorable 
means  in  their  power  to  secure  the  passage  of  the  bill  (H.  R.  1067)  having  for  its  ob- 
ject the  erection  of  a  monument  to  the  memory  of  the  "  martyrs  of  the  prison-ships.*' 

Resolved  (if  the  assembly  concur),  That  a  duly  certified  copy  of  the  foregoing  pre- 
amble and  resolutions  be  forwarded  to  each  Senator  and  Representative  in  Congress 
from  this  State. 

Also  the  following  resolution  from  the  Kings  County  board  of  super- 
visors, passed  January  19,  1888  : 

Whereas  the  "  Society  of  Old  Brooklynites,"  of  the  city  of  Brooklyn,  have  peti- 
tioned the  Congress  of  the  United  States  for  an  appropriation  to  fitly  commemorate 
by  a  monument  the  "  Martyrs  of  the  Prison  Ships"  of  the  Revolutionary  war  ;  and 

Whereas  this  board  heartily  approves  of  the  motives  and  patriotic  zeal  displayed 
by  the  said  society  in  the  noble  effort  to  inspire  devotion  to  country,  perpetuating 
the  virtues  of  those  who  sacrificed  their  lives  for  republican  principles,  thus  stimu- 
lating future  generations  to  emulate  their  patriotism  :  Therefore,  be  it 

Resolved,  That  the  board  of  supervisors  of  Kings  County  does  hereby  approve  of 
and  indorse  the  honorable  and  praiseworthy  efforts  of  the  "Society  of  Old  Brooklyn- 
ites" to  obtain  a  fitting  monument  to  be  placed  over  the  remains  of  those  who  per- 
ished at  the  birth  of  this  Republic. 

Resolved,  That  we  most  cordially  extend  to  the  "  Society  of  Old  Brooklynites'*  our 
earnest  support  and  encouragement,  and  express  the  hope  that  their  efforts  will  be  re- 
warded by  the  people  through  their  Representatives  in  Congress. 

Similar  resolutions  were  also  adopted  by  the  board  of  aldermen. 

Also  the  following  petition  from  the  "  Society  of  Old  Brooklynites." 
who  have  been  mainly  instrumental  in  preserving  these  relics  and  in 
bringing  these  historical  facts  before  this  committee: 

To  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the  Tinted  Slates  in  Congress  assembled  : 

Your  petitioners,  on  incorporated  society  <>r  I  he  city  of  Brooklyn,  under  t  se  title  <>f 

"The  Society  of  Old  Brooklynites,"  would  respectfully  represent  : 

Tinit  the  remains  of  more  than  eleven  thousand  five  hundred  martyrs  fco  the  cause 
of  liberty  He  entombed  in  this  city,  who  died  duringour  Revolutionary  war,  on  boaro] 


MONUMENT  TO  VICTIMS  OF  PRISON-SHIPS  AT  FORT  GREENE.  7 


the  prison-ships  of  the  British  at  the  Wallabout,  and  which  were  buried  on  onr 
shores  during  that  memorable  struggle,  many  of  which  were  by  the  action  of  the 
waves  washed  out  of  their  shallow  graves,  their  bones  scattered  along  the  beach,  ex- 
posed to  the  summer's  sun  and  winter's  storms  until  the  year  1808,  when  the  Tam- 
many Society,  or  Columbian  Order,  of  the  city  of  New  York,  had  them  collected  and 
buried  with  imposing  ceremonies,  in  which  the  governors  of  several  States,  mayors 
of  cities,  and  civil,  military,  and  ecclesiastical  dignitaries  from  all  parts  of  the  coun- 
try took  part. 

The  place  of  burial  was  on  Jackson  street  in  this  city,  and  the  tomb— a  temporary 
woodeu  structure,  in  which  they  were  placed — became  so  dilapidated — by  reason  of 
changes  made  in  the  surroundings  and  from  natural  decay,  that  the  sacred  remains 
were  again  exposed  to  the  gaze  of  the  multitude,  until  the  park  commissioners  of  this 
city,  with  the  sanction  of  the  city  government,  prepared  with  great  care  and  expense 
a  permanent  and  imperishable  tomb  for  their  reception  on  the  historic  ground  of  Fort 
Greene — a  charming  elevation  in  Washington  Park  in  this  city,  overlooking  the  scene 
of  their  sufferings  and  death — to  which  the  sacred  remains  were  cheerfully  removed 
and  deposited. 

These  devoted  patriots,  from  every  one  of  the  original  thirteen  States,  were  prison- 
ers of  war,  taken  by  the  British  army  and  navy,  and  numbered  more  than  were  killed 
in  all  the  battles,  both  by  sea  and  land,  in  that  long  and  desperate  struggle  for  free- 
dom. 

When  it  is  remembered  that  constant  and  unremitting  efforts  were  made  by  the 
British  officers  to  induce  these  prisoners  to  purchase  their  freedom  and  save  their  lives 
by  enlisting  in  the  service  of  the  enemy  ;  that  many,  probably  the  majority  of  them, 
had  families  who  were  suffering  by  reason  of  their  absence  ;  that  to  remain  in  these 
horrible  prisons  was  almost  certain  death;  and  that  under  all  these  circumstances 
they  remained  faithful  to  the  cause  in  which  they  had  enlisted,  and  preferred  death 
to  dishonor,  we  must  concede  that  they  earned  the  title  of  Martyrs  of  the  Prison 
Ships,  and  deserve  such  recognition  from  the  Government,  to  aid  in  the  establishment 
of  which  they  sacrificed  their. lives,  as  will  show  to  the  world  that  Republics  are 
not  ungrateful,  but  that  we  cherish  their  memories,  honor  their  devotion  to  their 
country,  and  will  erect  such  an  enduring  monument  to  commemorate  their  virtues  as 
will  stimulate  future  generations  to  emulate  their  patriotism. 

We,  therefore,  most  respectfully  ask  that  your  honorable  body  will  make  an  ap- 
propriation of  not  less  than  $100,090  toward  the  erection  of  a  suitable  monument  to 
be  erected  at  or  near  the  spot  where  their  sacred  remains  now  lie,  the  site  for  which 
will  be  donated  for  that  purpose  by  the  city  of  Brooklyn. 

This  society  will  most  cheerfully  give  all  the  aid  in  their  power  toward  the  ac- 
complishment of  the  object  of  this  petition. 

Also  the  following  petition,  signed  by  twenty-five  thoas  and  citizens 
of  the  United  States  : 

To  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the  United  States  in  Congress  assembled: 
Your  petitioners,  citizens  of  the  United  States,  do  respectfully  and  earnestly  pray 
your  honorable  body  to  hear  and  grant  the  petition  of  the  Society  of  Old  Brooklynites 
and  to  <;ause  the  erection  of  the  long  delayed  monument  to  the  martyrs  of  the  prison 
ships. 

Your  committee  therefore  recommend  that  the  bill  do  pass  with  the 
following  amendment : 

Provided,  That  the  money  appropriated  as  aforesaid  shall  be  expended  under  the 
direction  of  the  Secretary  of  War,  and  the  plans,  specifications,  and  design  shall  first 
be  approved  by  him. 


50th  Congress,  )  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES,    j  Report 
1st  Session.     f  (  No.  1336. 


FOURTH  REGIMENT  IOWA  INFANTRY. 


March  27,  1888. — Committed  to  the  Committee  of  the  Whole  House  and  ordered  to 

he  printed. 


Mr.  Gear,  from  the  Committee  on  Military  Affairs,  submitted  the  fol- 
lowing 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  hill  H.  R.  1387.] 

The  Committee  on  Military  Affairs,  to  whom  was  referred  the  bill 
(H.  R.  1387)  for  the  relief  of  the  volunteers  of  the  Fourth  Regiment  of 
Iowa  Volunteers,  report  the  same  back  to  the  House,  with  a  recom- 
mendation to  concur  in  the  Senate  amendments  thereto. 


